


Five Times Greg and Pearl Got Along

by CompletelyDifferent, LadyRavenEye



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: 5+1 Things, F/F, F/M, Family, Friendship, Gen, Grief/Mourning, Polyamorous Rose Quartz (Steven Universe), Pre-Series, aka lots of gradual Pearl and Greg bonding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-07
Updated: 2016-07-07
Packaged: 2018-07-22 03:54:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,965
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7418824
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CompletelyDifferent/pseuds/CompletelyDifferent, https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyRavenEye/pseuds/LadyRavenEye
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>...and one time they didn't.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Five Times Greg and Pearl Got Along

**Author's Note:**

> For ages the two of us have wanted to do some fic focusing on our 'Van Buds', Pearl and Greg, but it was only this week that we actually sat down to try and make it. And then those clips from the upcoming episodes came out, and we knew we had to get this out, ASAP.

**1**

 

A pink stone sat on the floor. Beside it-- beside _her_ \-- sat Greg. 

He could barely allow himself to look away. He was still having trouble convincing himself that it-- that the rock was her, that Rose was in there, that she was fine, that she was safe.

He’d been there a long time. He didn’t have anything else to do, and even if he did, he wouldn’t have been able to focus. So he stayed on the cold stone floor of the Temple, watching vigil over it (over her). His fingers were sore and his voice was hoarse; he’d been playing for hours. He didn’t know if Rose could hear it, inside the gemstone, but he played anyway. He’d played everything-- the songs he’d dedicated to her, old classics she loved, even silly little lullabies from his own childhood.

There was a loud woosh from behind him that lit up his peripheral vision.

“Greg,” said Pearl’s voice from the direction of the warp pad. “What are you doing here?”

 Apparently she was as surprised to see him as he was to see her.

Greg wrenched his eyes away from it (from her) at last. He ignored the question. “Pearl-- Pearl, you’re alright?”

He’d seen her. He’d seen her-- her gem split nearly in _half_ , her body shivering and sparking--

Pearl ran a hand through her hair, giving a flippant smile that seemed forced. “Of course I’m alright.” 

There had been a monster. Huge and terrible, all sharp claws and jagged teeth. He’d been terrified. The Gems had run into battle against it, to protect the people of Beach City. Even knowing how powerful they were, it had been horrible, standing there while they risked their lives against something a good eight times their size. And all he had been able to do was stand there, watching, unable to do anything but watch. 

He’d been unable to do anything but watch as Rose had gotten trapped in the monster’s jaw, its mouth closing tight around her shield. He’d been unable to do anything when its giant club-like tail had come swinging right at her from the side. He’d been unable to do anything but watch when Rose’s body had dissolved into white smoke.

Then there had been Pearl.

She’d jumped in, in front of the pink rock which was all that had remained of Rose. Her eyes had burned. She’d put herself between the monster and the stone, unflinching, and she’d sliced the creature’s tail clean off. Then she had thrown herself at it, running right at its snarling mouth, stabbing at its eyes. It had thrown her down, struck her in the face. When she’d pulled herself to her feet, there’d been an ugly crack running right through her gem. Her form had shuddered, but she had fought on. A living shield, she’d attacked the monster, relentless, until she was sure it was gone.

Then she’d fallen to the ground, shaking, staticky, like a TV signal lost in a storm.

Garnet had handed Greg the pink stone, telling him to look over it, that Rose was alright, but that they had to take Pearl away, quickly. She’d slung Pearl’s shivering body over her shoulder, Amethyst pacing anxiously besides her, and they’d warped off. 

Greg thought he might never see Pearl alive again.

“It-- it looked serious,” Greg said.

“Well.” Pearl paused, closing her eyes briefly. “It was,” she confessed.

“Then how-?”

“Rose has healing tears.” 

Greg glanced at the stone, as still and silent as it had been for hours, a question on his face. 

“We have a fountain,” Pearl explained. “Rose always feared something like this would happen, so she created a backup store of healing essence for emergencies.”

A tense silence descended.

Pearl was looking at Greg strangely. “Have you been here all this time?” 

“Ah… yes,” Greg said. He felt uncomfortable, as he so often did when left around Pearl by himself. He felt the sudden need to justify herself. “I just… couldn’t leave her alone. I needed to make sure that she was okay, and that there was someone here when she… came back.” He bit his lip. “She _will_ come back, won’t she?” 

And then, Pearl smiled. “She always does.”

 

**2**

 

_I like it when you do that thing_

_I like it when you don’t do much at all_

_I like it when you dance and sing_

_I like it when you’re home or at the mall_  

 _Baby, I like you, I like you, baby, I like--_  

“Greg.”

Greg’s guitar made a sound like a sick cat under his fingers, but luckily his flinch wasn’t severe enough to snap any strings. Of all the Gems to be standing above him while he picked idly at his instrument in the Temple shadows on the beach, Pearl was the last one he expected.

“Um, Rose isn’t here,” he told her, trying his best to keep the annoyance out of his voice. “She’s on a mission.” 

“Yes, of course _I_ know that,” Pearl said, not bothering to return the courtesy. “I wanted to know who wrote that song.”

“Uh…” Greg said. “I did?” 

“I’ve never heard it before.”

“That’s because...” Greg strummed down on his guitar. “It’s not a good song. I wrote it when I was in high school.” 

“High School?” 

“It’s a place where… it’s a school for teenaged humans.”

“That sounds unpleasant.”

Greg chuckled. “It can be, for sure.” 

“I would like to hear the whole song,” Pearl said, doing that thing where she folded to the ground in a position Greg was certain would snap a human’s knees in half. “Please,” she added, after a moment. 

Greg squinted at her. Surely there was some trick here, some catch? Some hidden insult lurking around the corner? 

But no. Pearl sat there patiently, no sign of a smirk or a frown on her face. So Greg pulled the guitar back up to his chest and began to strum from the beginning.

    _Baby, I like everything about you,_

_I like your nose and your legs and your smile_

_I like it when you’re there for me_

_I like it when you make me wait a little while_

 

_Baby, I like you, I like you, baby, I like you_

_I like you now and I like you forever_

_And nothin’ about my like is never_

_I like like you, like this, baby_

_Baby, I like you, I like you, baby, I like you_

“What is there to like about a baby? Aren’t they smelly and loud?”

“Sh, Pearl, second verse.”

She listened obediently until Greg finished the song. Pearl blinked at him, unfolded herself, shook sand off of her legwarmers, and walked back up to the Temple.

“...bye,” said Greg. 

He didn’t think about the incident much until, three weeks later, his van broke down. Again. 

Greg had thought he was getting pretty good at fixing it, but this time, he was stumped. Rose was more likely to coo at the “wee engine pieces” than she was to help, and Garnet didn’t have the patience when the van “would be fixed soon,” and Amethyst… Amethyst had drank _all_ of his oil, gas, antifreeze, and windshield wiper fluid the last time he asked her to help. There was really only one option. 

Maybe he should just save up for a new car? 

With what money? With what skills? Not a whole lot of high-paying gigs in the Delmarva area, and certainly none he could get to without driving.

Plus... Rose would be pleased, wouldn’t she? To see them getting along?

So Greg swallowed his pride, climbed up the slope towards the Temple, and went to search out Pearl.

(It was kind of ridiculous that a _literal_ _alien_ knew more about human engine maintenance than he did, but then, Pearl had apparently once helped maintain actual space-ships. So.)

He figured that he might have to end up waiting awkwardly outside the Temple door until one of the Gems came out and could go and fetch Pearl, but that turned out not to be an issue. As he came closer, he could hear a clear, high voice echoing out from the mouth of the cave. 

_I like like you, like this, baby,_

_Baby, I like you, I like you, baby, I like you_

Greg jumped from the familiarity. It was _his_ song. The one he’d written back in high school for Monica, the girl he’d had a crush on, but never ever built up enough confidence to sing it to-- and someone was singing it here, and now-- 

He crept up the rest of the way, quietly as he could, and stuck his head up the crest of the hill.

Pearl was there, sweeping out the dust from the cave’s floor, singing as she worked. She was smiling. She looked so-- happy.

Greg’s first thought was, _I guess she liked it_. 

His second was, _Wow, she really_ can _sing_.

 

**3**

 

“Pearl.”

Pearl looked up from her spear, shocked-- not just from the sound of Greg’s voice, but the emotions in it. There was something fierce written on his face, determined and frustrated. 

“What?” she said. She looked around the hill for some sign of why she had sought him out. All she saw was the cherry blossom tree, same as ever. “Is something wrong? Is there a monster attacking?” 

“Ah-- no.” He deflated a little. For a moment Pearl thought he might go away, but then he said, “I need to ask you something.” 

She regarded him. A large part of her wanted to refuse, out of hand… but she said, “What?” 

“Why are you here?” 

Pearl glanced around at the isolated hill. “I like to come up here for sparring practice.”

“I mean-- why are the _Gems_ here. On Earth.” 

She gave an uncomfortable laugh punctuated by a twirl of her spear. “Oh. Well, you know the story, surely-- we came here from space, and it was so pretty, we decided to stay--” 

“No.” 

“Pardon?”

“No. I _know_ that’s not the whole story, Pearl. I know it’s not. Rose-- Rose told me about how Gems are made, and how it would have hurt the Earth. She said that you rebelled against the other Gems, made them leave, while you all stayed to protect it.” 

“Ah.” Pearl clenched her spear and turned away, adjusting her grip so that she could could get back to the set of strikes and swings she’d been working on before she’d been interrupted. “Well, it seems that you already know the answer.”

He stepped in front of her. There was no way for Pearl to continue her practice without accidentally slicing him in half. Tempting though it was, she knew Rose would not approve. 

“But that doesn’t make sense,” Greg said. “I can understand Rose staying on Earth to protect it-- but you? Or even Garnet? I feel like there’s… something more there, but Rose won’t tell me.” 

Eyes dark, Pearl said, “Maybe there’s a reason for that.”

The human took a deep breath. “Pearl. I know I’m super young compared to you guys, but I _am_ an adult. Whatever it is, I can handle it. And I-- I can tell it’s bothering Rose, and I want to help her, but I can’t if I don’t know what’s up. So please. If she can’t bring herself to explain… will you?” 

“Why not ask Garnet or Amethyst?” Pearl asked, trying to keep the bite from her voice. 

Greg looked surprised. “Well-- I could. But I figured… you’re the one who knows Rose best.”

She surveyed him for a long moment. Then she banished her spear, took a seat on the ground, and nodded. After a moment’s hesitation, Greg joined her on the grass. 

Pearl closed her eyes and took a moment to collect herself. Then she opened them and said, “You’re right. I didn’t rebel for Earth, or for humans. I didn’t even do it for Rose-- at least, not entirely. I did it for myself.”

Greg’s eyebrows rose.

Pearl took a deep breath and said, “There are other Pearls.” 

“What?” 

“Gems-- we are not unique. There are different kinds, all created with a specific function and purpose.” 

Greg looked shocked. He said nothing for a long period, before asking the question Pearl had known would be coming. “So-- um-- then what’s a-- a Pearl’s purpose?” 

“Servitude.

“We stand. We clean. We dance. We do what we are told.” 

The human stared. “That’s… that’s it?” 

“Yes.” Pearl’s voice was hollow.

Greg looked-- disbelieving. No, not disbelieving: angry. _Outraged_.

“You’re-- you’re telling me that you were a servant? That you weren’t allowed to do anything else?” Pearl nodded. “Good grief-- that’s ridiculous! You’re an amazing fighter, you’re one of the most intelligent people I’ve ever met--” He shook his head. “No wonder you fought back.”

Pearl could not help the feeling of pride that glowed within her. 

Greg rubbed his face. “What-- what about the others, then? Amethyst, Garnet-- _Rose_?” 

She shifted a little. There were some things that just weren’t hers to tell. She sidestepped the first two entirely and said, “Rose was… very high ranking. She did things that she’s not proud of-- to other species, to other Gems. And it doesn’t matter what she’s done since to make up for them-- she still blames herself. I’ve always tried to make her understand, but…” 

Greg nodded, understanding. “I-- I get it.” He stood up. “Thanks, Pearl. That-- that helps. Maybe I’ll be able to… I don’t know. Try to help her see, I guess.” 

 _I hope so_ , Pearl thought.

**4**

 

Greg and Pearl agreed: from the moment Steven began existing, Rose was radiant. 

He didn’t really exist, not yet. The birth itself was still months away. But the time she spent pregnant, existing at the same time as her son? 

Never was she ever more beautiful. Not in battle. Not in peace. 

Never was she ever so unburdened by the past; never was she ever so excited for the future. Never had she laughed so easily, smiled so brightly, sang so sweetly. She beamed with pride whenever a human in the streets asked to feel her belly. She shivered with delight every time she felt the baby kick. She spent hours in stores, picking out toys and clothes and books, her eyes soft and gentle.

Pearl watched her. Rose was on the beach, playing with a gaggle of children-- tossing balls, building sand castles, showing them hermit crabs and seagulls. Pearl was too far away to hear her, but she could still imagine what Rose was saying, based on many, many past experiences-- “ _They can live in both water and on land! And look-- it carries its home everywhere it goes, so it’s always protected!_ ” and “ _There are few animals as tenacious as a seagull. They will eat almost anything. And if they want something, they fight to get it!_ ”

The children seemed awestruck, sharing Rose’s wonder for the world around them. That was her special talent 

Pearl was so lost in thought that she didn’t immediately notice when Greg came to stand beside her. When she did finally register his surprising closeness, she gave him a slow, surreptitious look-- he too was watching Rose, but his expression was… strange. Not like him. He was frowning, and his eyes were-- not sad, precisely.

“I wish,” he began, and then trailed off.

“Wish what?” Pearl said, not having meant to say it aloud.

He took a deep breath, and said, “Wish we could have them both.” 

Fingernails biting into the palms of her hand, Pearl said, “Me too.”

**5**

 

“He doesn’t like that TV show, Pearl.”

“The human at the store _assured_ me that all boys like the Rangers of Power.” 

“Steven’s not… hoo boy. Steven is not like all the other boys. Not about everything anyway.” 

“He isn’t?” 

“Well, I mean, he’s-- like, you know how you’re a Pearl but you like fighting?” 

Pearl glared at him. Greg rubbed his eyes. Between the car wash and the new house, sleep had been a precious luxury of late, and it wasn’t like human gender was an easy subject to tackle when he was fully awake and alert. 

“Steven is a boy but he likes lots of things for, you know, I guess, for girls. It’s silly that that’s a… thing, but it is. You should go back to the store and ask if they have any Sailor Moon posters.” 

Pearl looked balefully at the multi-colored cast on the glossy picture she held. Magical humans fighting crime? That seemed just like Steven. Every time she thought she knew him, she was proven to be wrong. And now he was coming to live with her and Garnet and Amethyst full time and she _didn’t_ know him, how _could_ she? This _thing_ that had taken Rose away from her? 

...No. No. This was Steven. She knew Steven. She… cared for Steven, deeply. She could almost look at him and not remember what she had lost. 

And Pearl knew, _she knew_ , that Rose would have loved everything about her tiny human son. Pearl was determined to honor that. And it wasn’t even hard; for every sticky mess, there was a handmade card, for every screaming tantrum, there was an enveloping hug, for every moment that she missed Rose, there was a pair of big eyes, naked in their adoration, so similar to Rose’s, so different, so unfettered in their wonderment and their love for everything around them. 

Yes. Pearl knew Steven. She might not know his favorite television program. But she knew him. 

“Uh, Pearl?”

“What,” she said, pleased at how well she kept herself from snapping.

“I said,” Greg’s voice was soft. “Where should we put Rose’s portrait?” 

Pearl stiffened and felt herself turn. Among the clutter of the near-completed house, there was one corner that was empty except for one thing. Rose’s portrait. 

Amethyst’s friend Vidalia had painted it. Pearl had never been very fond of the human, but, she had to confess… Vidalia had considerable artistic talent. Somehow she’d captured Rose Quartz perfectly. The flow of her hair, the softness of her features, the peaceful radiance of her smile. It was beautiful. 

For a moment the both of them, Gem and human, got caught up staring at it. 

They might have stayed like that for a long time, but they were interrupted by the thundering of footsteps on the stairs outside. A moment later the screen door banged open and Steven barrelled in. “Dad, Dad, Amethyst wants to know where-- _woah_!” Steven had noticed the collection of posters, photographs and glow-in-the-dark stars scattered around Pearl and Greg. “Is this stuff all for me?” 

“Sure is, kiddo.”

“Woah,” Steven said again. He made grabby hands at the stars. “Can I start putting them up? Pleasseee?” 

“I think we’d better wait,” Greg said. “There’s too much clutter and sawdust around right now, they might not stick to the walls.” 

Steven’s lower lip trembled and his eyes welled. “But… I wanna…” 

Greg suppressed a tired sigh. It was not his child’s fault that he was… a child. 

But before he could get to Steven to console him, Pearl was there, bent at the waist, her nose inches from Steven’s face. 

“I promise,” she said. “When I get this place all cleaned up, I’ll help you put the stars up myself. I can even show you how to arrange them so that they look like the constellations in your solar system, would you like that?” 

Steven gave a watery giggle and nodded. 

“That’s good, Steven. You’re very brave.”

Greg was looking at Pearl strangely. She straightened, self-conscious. 

“What?” 

“Nothing,” Greg said. He turned his attention back to Steven. “What was it that Amethyst wanted?”

“Oh!” Steven said, all traces of tears gone now. “She wants to know where you put the chainsaw.” 

Greg jolted a little. “What does she need that for?”

“Dunno,” Steven said, shrugging his small shoulders. 

Pearl rolled her eyes. “Go tell Amethyst, that if it’s truly important, she can shape-shift a chainsaw herself. Besides, what we really need up here is a broom.”

“Okay!” Steven said, and began to bound out the door. Then he stopped, turned back, and darted forward to give them both a quick hug. “Thanks for all the cool stuff guys!”

Then he ran out to find Amethyst. 

“So,” Greg finally asked. “Where do you think we should put the portrait?”

Pearl gazed around at the house. There was a lot of empty space. A lot that needed to be filled. She felt almost overwhelmed the sheer amount of choices.

“I think,” she said, eventually, “that we should ask Garnet and Amethyst for help.”

Greg nodded. “And Steven, too.”

“And Steven, too.”

 **0**  

“He’s just a phase.” 

“Pearl, he’s different.” 

“You said that about Tammy.”

“Tamar? She _was_ different.” 

“They’re all different and they’re all _dead_.”  

Pearl had gone too far. She saw it on Rose’s face. She still couldn’t stop. 

“I just-- I don’t understand what you see in them, Rose. Like-- from afar, they’re fascinating, I’ll grant you-- but they don’t offer anything that a Gem can’t, and they die so quickly, and Greg-- he’s so vulgar and full of himself and--!” 

Rose took a step back. Her eyes were dark. “Stop.” 

Her voice was cold as the void of space. 

“It does not matter if you like Greg or not,” she said. “ _I_ like him. You do not get to choose what _I_ do with _my_ life.” 

“I—” Pearl grasped. “Of course not, that’s not what I’m saying—” 

“Yes. It is.” 

There was a long, piercing silence. Rose stared at Pearl, and Pearl could not look away. 

“I’m just trying to protect you,” Pearl said eventually. 

“I don’t need your protection,” Rose said. “And I don’t need you trying to scare Greg off, every time my back is turned. What I need you to do is to trust me, and to respect my choices. Do you understand?” 

Pearl made a sound that might have been a ‘yes’. She would never like Greg. Rose would see what she saw, some day-- or he would die. Like all humans did. There was a swoosh of the Temple door opening as she ran away, face blue, eyes hot. 

Around the corner, just around the cave’s mouth, Greg stood, frozen. 

He hadn’t meant to listen. He’d just been coming for their date, and all he’d been thinking about was the cute restaurant he’d picked out, and how much he thought Rose would probably love Chinese food. Then once he’d arrived, he’d heard the two talking— and he hadn’t wanted to interrupt— but then the discussion had gotten more and more heated, and then it had turned into flat out yelling--

He should have left. He knew that. But he hadn’t. 

Should he leave now? Maybe— maybe Rose needed some sort of emotional comfort. That’s what he was supposed to be able to give— as her, as her boyfriend, or _whatever_ it was you wanted to call the relationship they had going on. But— but he couldn’t hear her crying, he couldn’t hear anything— and he didn’t want to go in and admit he’d been eavesdropping— 

He pulled his hair. Why did Pearl have to be like this? 

He just. Didn’t understand. At all. Rose was so sweet, so kind, caring, silly. What in the universe had she seen in Pearl, of all people? Greg had never met anyone as petty, as vindictive, as arrogant, as selfish— 

Yet somehow Rose Quartz would willingly share a body and mind with her. It did not make sense. 

He would never like Pearl. He could only hope that someday Rose would see what he did, and she’d be out of their hair.


End file.
